Page 9 of Healing Hearts
He laughs, and when I settle him on my side, still in my arms, his grin is contagious.
“Did Santa come to your house too?” he asks.
“All I got was a lump of coal,” I say, feigning a grimace. “Guess I was too naughty.”
“You’re not too naughty,” Amir says with a laugh. “Mom, Trent says he’s naughty.”
Emily shoots me a sly smile, and there’s a small shake of her head, as though she’s internally censoring herself. I flash her a cocky grin, and that only makes her small smile widen.
“I bet in certain situations, Trent is averynaughty boy,” she says to Amir, tickling his stomach, “but he’s always the best with you.”
“And with you,” Amir says to his mom.
“And with me,” Emily agrees, and she runs her hand along my exposed bicep.
The skin-to-skin contact sizzles, as though the lightest touch from her is a brand. Normally, I ignore the sensation, pretend I don’t feel the heat of attraction. She doesn’t seem to, and there’sno way I’d ever do anything to jeopardize my relationship with Amir, my friendship with Em. Both have become sacred in the last year, ever since her dad died.
I bear the scars of what those sorts of feelings can do to a friendship thanks to Lila. We shared a few drunken kisses, nothing serious, and when Lila pressed for more, I was honest and told her I didn’t have more to give. But it definitely taught me that mixing friendship with any other feelings was a recipe for disaster.
“You spend your afternoon with Victoria yesterday?” I ask Emily.
“No,” Amir says, answering for her. “Uncle Tyler canceled.”
“That’s true,” Emily says with a slight frown. “Apparently, he’s had the shop closed for the last four days.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“I guess so,” Emily says with a shrug. “Tyler just texted the group chat and said he wanted some dedicated daddy-daughter time, and he was closing the shop early for the holidays.”
The door opens, and Maggie and Grady enter with Grady’s two dogs. Amir immediately wiggles out of my arms to make a break for Hite and Zeus, who are in full body wags at the sight of Amir.
“You should get him one,” I say to Emily.
“A dog?” She gives me an incredulous look. “I view dogs how some people view kids—nice to take on once in a while, but not for me long term. He can get his dog fix at Maggie and Grady’s house. The hair alone…”
“Fair enough,” I say because I feel the same about them. “Amir gets picked up tomorrow to go to his grandparents?”
“Omar’s mom flies in tomorrow, and then they’ll go down to Arizona for the rest of the holidays. They also have a dog,” she says with an amused look. “So he can get his fix there. Though Omar’s parents have a tiny, barky thing. Then Omar’s dad is flying back with Amir just before school restarts.”
“You weren’t tempted to go somewhere too? Or go with him?” I ask because I know how involved Emily is with Amir, how empty her house and life will feel without him for almost two weeks. On Sunday mornings, she’s always at her mom’s bright and early to get Amir when he’s spent the night.
“Running my own business means that holidays take careful planning,” she says. “It’s nice for Amir to have some time with his grandparents without me. Besides, I’m sure Tyler will need help again. He won’t keep the shop closed indefinitely. I’ll sneak in some aunt time to get my kid fix.”
Just then the door opens behind us, and the house goes unexpectedly quiet. When I turn, Tyler is framed in the entryway with Victoria’s car seat in one hand and Mia Malone in his other hand. Her bodyguard, Pasha, stands behind them, huge and intimidating.
“Wow,” I say. “That’s an entrance.”
“Oh my god,” Emily says, recovering the quickest. “We’re so glad you’re here.” She rushes toward them, drawing Mia into a hug.
And that’s another reason why Em is a gem. Even though I know she’s had some conflicted feelings about Mia leaving Tyler and Victoria, she doesn’t hesitate to embrace Mia when she reappears.
Once Emily has Mia in her arms, the rest of the family descends, embracing Tyler and Mia, cooing over Victoria, slotting Mia right back into the family like she never left.
Soon, we’re all sitting around the giant table, passing food, and sharing stories. The dogs, so well trained by Grady, are perched on the front entrance mat, even though I’ve seen Amir try to entice them over with bits of turkey.
“Mia and I wanted to talk to you all,” Tyler says, his tone confident, but his posture definitely less so. “We both really appreciate how you’ve closed ranks around me and Victoria overthe last five months, but I think—to make sure Mia’s able to get that bond with Victoria, for us to get our feet as a family—we’re going to take some space to ourselves for a little while. When I’m at the shop, Mia and Victoria will either stay home together or come with me and be in the store. We’re going to try to spend as much time as possible, just the three of us.”
“Of course,” Joanna, Emily’s mom, says. “We’ll all support you in any way we can, and if that means staying out of the way, we’ll do that.” She glances around the table for any dissention, but I know she won’t find any.
